Asteroid flyby

Newly-discovered asteroid 2009 BD is slowly passing by Earth today only 400,000 miles away. The approximately 10 meter-wide space rock poses no significant threat, but it merits attention anyway: The orbit of 2009 BD appears to be almost identical to the orbit of Earth. 2009 BD may be a rare "co-orbital asteroid," circling the sun in near-tandem with our planet. If current measurements of the asteroid's orbit are correct, 2009 BD will remain in Earth's neighborhood for many months and possibly years to come.